----------(1)
Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 22:32:10 -0700
From: Dan Lester <dan@riverofdata.com>
Subject: Re: Electronic journal problems (Allison Mays)

Thursday, March 07, 2002, 4:44:47 PM, you wrote:

> Two words:  Serials Solutions.  They'll take care of it for you. Check them
> out at www.serialssolutions.com - very affordable and money well-spent,
> super customer service.  Contact me if you want more info, I did an article
> on them for Against the Grain.

> Dan Lester will probably jump in and mention TDNet, which is another
> service.

I'll give this information.  For commercial solutions to keeping track
of ejournals, the three options I know of are, in alphabetical order:
www.journalwebcite.com
www.serialssolutions.com
www.tdnet.com

They certainly help with keeping track of serials in licensed
databases, but for the ones you subscribe directly to, you still have
to inform them of what you subscribe to, cancel, have title changes
on, and so forth.  But they do simplify things.

The three listed above I'd consider to be, in order, the Yugo, the
Honda, and the Mercedes.  Each has its advantages.  The prices vary
widely.  The deliverables also vary widely.  The frequencies of
updating also vary widely.

As always, "ya pays your money and ya makes your choice".  I'd
certainly not choose any one of them without investigating all three.

All that being said, I'll be careful to avoid any sort of wars over
which is better and why.  I'll leave that to others.  I also avoid
wars over integrated library systems, automobiles, and operating
systems.

cheers

dan

--
Dan Lester, Data Wrangler  dan@RiverOfData.com 208-283-7711
3577 East Pecan, Boise, Idaho  83716-7115 USA
www.riverofdata.com  www.gailndan.com  Stop Global Whining!

----------(2)
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2002 08:35:59 -0500
From: Abigail Bordeaux <bordeaux@binghamton.edu>
Subject: Re: Electronic journal problems

Cheryl,

I agree with Allison's comments about Serials Solutions--affordable and
excellent to work with.  They have definitely made my job easier.   But they
can't do everything.  You still need to tell them when you get new titles,
when you cancel subscriptions, and if you add e-journals to your catalog you
still need to do that yourself.  And you need to keep an eye on your Serials
Solutions files.  I've been happy with their quality, but occasionally have
had to correct something (sometimes my own fault, not theirs).

Many of our e-journals are free e-versions of print subscriptions.  If
that's the case for you, then communication between your Serials department
and whomever handles the e-journals is crucial.  That could be notification
about cancellations, new titles, or making sure vendor mail about the
e-journal gets to the right place.  It's also important when the publisher
decides at the last minute that online will no longer be free with print!

Abigail Bordeaux
Electronic Resources Access Librarian
Binghamton University Libraries
PO Box 6012 / Vestal Parkway E.
Binghamton, NY  13902-6012
607.777.3217
bordeaux@binghamton.edu